11 - 33 percent
by kaahiescheck
Summary: Wow, okay. Tricky theme. But here you have it, a bit of Thaluke fluff to brighten your day!


**Is it Thaluke ship week or something? I noticed a lot of one-shots and pictures here and on deviantART saying that. I didn't get the memo or anything.**

**So here it is! 33%, for the gods' sake, what kind of theme is that? Which only proves how much of a genius I was when I came up with this, _involving _Thalia and Luke back in the days.**

**I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Thals? You in there?" His voice brought her back to reality. She'd been thinking; actually, mentally whining and scolding herself for doing so. Usually, she only complained about how her life sucked and how monsters were idiotic and tiring. But now she started missing something. Something that before she was sure was entirely directed to her: Luke's attention.

She knew, it was stupid, but she couldn't help going back a year to when his eyes only turned to her. It _was_ possessive of her to think like this while they were trying to make it to camp alive, and she'd never wish they hadn't found Annabeth and that Grover hadn't found them. It was supposed to be like that, and she loved Annabeth, she really did, and would do anything to protect her. When it came to Luke, though, she would always remember when it was only the two of them.

He would do anything for her, that much was clear. Thalia wasn't blind to the way he looked at her, his eyes focused on her with a slight dreamy expression. And she would for him as well, because she knew she must look at him with the exact same face. She also knew she should probably have said something and acted on her feelings; only her pride had never let her. Her pride and her rationality.

And then they'd found Annabeth.

Used to receiving 100% of his attention, dropping to 50% should have been something. Maybe it had been the urge to protect Annabeth that wouldn't let her feel jealous, but then again, she and Luke were acting like Annabeth's parents in a kind of way, which added up to the romantic tension between them. Although they still got some time alone while Annabeth slept, now there was no in hell Thalia would do anything. Luke did for her, then.

"_I still think we should change the bandage," Thalia muttered with concern as she looked back at Annabeth's sleeping little figure, her blonde curls pulled aside by a tissue wrapped around her forehead. It was starting to become red._

"_It'll be fine," Luke reassured her, taking a look at the seven-year-old as well before relaxing back against the tree trunk. "You can do it when she wakes up."_

"_And why not now?" Thalia stared into his eyes. Luke only smiled. "_Because_, in case you've forgotten, Annabeth's a light-sleeper. You go there and move her, she'll jump to her feet thinking you're some monster. She's been scared enough for today. Let her sleep."_

_Thalia pursed her lips, turning back to watch the little girl again, worriedly. At last, she settled against the tree as well and sighed. "Fine. But if she dies with an infection while she sleeps, I'm blaming you."_

"_Naturally."_

Luke could always do that: make her crack a smile when she didn't want to. Thalia didn't know if that was because he was a son of Hermes or simply because he had that effect on her. It was probably both, but since the latter was actually dangerous in a way, she would tell herself Hermes was hilarious. Period.

_Thalia could see him watching her from the corner of her eye. Refusing to give into temptation, she keep her gaze straight forward, pretending to be very interested in the lake in front of them and trying to keep an eye out for monsters._

"_Are you cold?" Luke asked quietly with a hint of concern. Thalia turned to him with a neutral face. "What makes you say that?"_

_He pointed at her bare arm resting on her folded knee, goosebumps all over her skin. Thalia crossed her arms and looked away. "Don't worry. Annabeth needs my jacket more than I do."_

"_You can take mine."_

"_It's summer. I'm fine," she said a bit more sharply than intended, but she didn't regret the tone she'd used. Luke was unaffected and moved to take out his jacket. Thalia quickly stopped his hands and sent him a meaningful glare. "Don't you dare."_

_Luke raised his eyebrows. "Be a gentleman?"_

"_Be overprotective. I won't die if I get a bit cold."_

"_It's getting windy."_

"_I don't care. Keep your jacket or I'll slice your arms and throw them into the lake."_

_Of course she wouldn't actually do such a thing, but Luke never wanted to know what she would instead, so he just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Charming thing, aren't you? Gods."_

_Thalia smiled sarcastically and went silent, her eyes travelling back to the water. She knew what would come next. The conversation always began like this, she snapping at him for whatever reason, and then he'd started making comments that slowly grew to be flirty. The dark of the night always helped building the mood, but Thalia really didn't want to go there. She'd buried her crush for their sakes so she would keep focus, especially now with a seven-year-old depending on them._

"_How can you be so moody on a night like this?" Luke asked light-heartedly, as usual._

"_Maybe because we've just been attack by three monsters I can't even name and Annabeth had a concussion?"_

_He seemed to consider it. "There's always that, but you should try to relax while you're _not_ being attacked. Like now. You used to."_

_Thalia hated it when he said _You used to_ as if everything was the same. She chose keep quiet and ignore his remarks on how she used to be so much fun back in the days, taking a look around to make sure they were alone. Then she felt Luke's hand going through her hair and turned to him quickly. He held his hands up. "There was a leaf, that's all! Don't kill me."_

_She sighed and leaned back, running a hand along her knotted locks automatically as Luke played with the leaf he'd removed from her head. "You didn't have to freak out that much," he muttered with his eyes on his hands. "You knew it was me."_

"_You scared me," Thalia lied turning to the opposite side of where he was in hopes he wouldn't catch up with her thoughts. Obviously, he did. "No, I didn't. I didn't touch you suddenly for you to be scared."_

"_You _surprised_ me," she tried to correct herself._

"_In a good way?" She heard the hope in his voice and turned back to face him – and turned out he was really close. His eyes matched his voice, and he looked like a lonely puppy. Thalia opened her mouth, searching for words, when Luke's gaze fell to her lips. Then she snapped herself out of it and sharply looked forward._

_She heard Luke sighing a bit impatiently beside her and felt his hand on her chin, forcing her head back to him. "You can stop being a bitch now." Thalia tried to shake her head and look away, but he cupped her cheek and held her in place as he leaned a bit closer. "Just stop ignoring me for a moment," Luke whispered._

"_I'm not ignoring you."_

"_Yeah, you're just trying. And failing."_

_Thalia should have slapped his hand away and yelled at him, which, of course, doesn't mean she did. Her mind clouded for a moment when Luke leaned in and kissed her softly. She allowed herself three seconds of bliss before pulling away and hitting his shoulder. Luke retreated, "Oow, what was that for?"_

"_We can't get distracted. We're on guard duty." He smirked in spite of the pain. "Oh, so I _do_ distract you."_

_Thalia slapped him one more time, hitting his thigh while hiding a smile. They were quiet for the rest of the night, and Luke never dared try to do something like that again. He had two throbbing bruises to remind him of what would happen._

She had had 100% of his attention that day. It had felt good, but she felt guilty. She had gotten used to half of his concern, and they couldn't pretend Annabeth hadn't been sleeping defenseless right behind them. It had been one of the last moments Thalia spent with Luke – meaning the Luke she knew, not the monster he slowly became after visiting his mom.

Grover found them shortly after. That satyr needed someone to keep an eye on him sometimes. He was almost scared of his own shadow as he guided them to camp. So the percentage dropped to 33.33333…% of Luke's attention for each. Thalia told herself she didn't care. She would protect her friends with her life if necessary; after all, they were only being followed by _that_ many monsters because her stupid father was Zeus.

But sometimes, when she was alone on guard at night, her lips tickled remembering Luke's and she'd watch him sleep for a while, thinking back two years before, one year before. Back in the days she didn't get only 33% of Luke's attention.


End file.
